Freeform Shadowrun

Tell us how you are using our gaming tools and how your sessions are going.

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Cweord
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Freeform Shadowrun

Post by Cweord »

Ok, part of the plan of this session was for me to see how well MT coped in more freeform sessions. This was a face to face session, using 2 laptops. With there being no SR4 dice roller yet, I had to do dice by hand.

I crashed the characters in a helicopter in Mexico in to rain forest.

I imported a copy of the NA map to show their flight path and crash point. This worked well using the pointer and drawing tools.

For the bulk of the game they were in rain forest, I just used free drawn tree trunks, and then used a 15m light radius to cover maximum visual distance through the trees.

I used a graphics tablet to draw on the map, and in the jungle it worked fairly well.

After a brief fight with some Ghouls (vision worked well there, as did not visible to players) they hooked up with a Naga and were led in to underground tunnels.

This was quick and freeform, using the drawing tool snapped to the grid to create the tunnels on the fly. Having a diagonal version of the square tool would be useful for diagonal passage ways, as would being able to have VBL set to the entire background, so the only areas you could see would be the drawn ones, with you removing VBL as you drew.

It still worked well though, I expanded the light to 60' and drew as they moved, it was just VBL wasn't in effect. Being able to point whilst drawing would also have been useful, and would have saved moving from mode to mode so much. Clicking directly on a token taking you back in to token mode would also have been helpful, though that may cause other problems (Ok, I click and move him here - No, I didn't want to draw that!!!).

Being able to copy the macro panel for the players would have been useful, and I have just realised that as soon as the SR4 die roller appears, I am going to have to re do all my tokens to give them the new macros . . . (Unless there is a way to import macros in to tokens by then)

The players are headed for a large pyramid complex, when they looked at it from the top of a hill just before entering the tunnels, I copied an image from Google Maps - resolution sucks for when I put them in it, but I put in in as a new map and it was quick and easy for them to see it.

I also used Token Tool's latest build, and was impressed with it, though I did find the text frontage on the screen capture stuck a few times. normally I generate my own Top Down images, but didn't have time - and TT was very quick and easy to use.

I didn't use IT, as as far as I know, it hasn't been set for the SR die roller yet, and I am waiting for full integration with MT and the Token Properties.

All in all I am very impressed with the latest builds, and am looking forward to the next few.
Cweord

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Cweord
Great Wyrm
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Post by Cweord »

Thinking over night, the option to draw with VBL either placed or removed would be useful.

Removing would be useful in the creating a free form dungeon scenario, but placing would have been useful in the forest scenario, as I just drew the trunks for trees, and being able to have them block light directly would have been useful.

adding this to the B28 post as well.
Cweord

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trevor
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Post by trevor »

Sounds like fun, by chance do you have any screencaps ?

Could you describe the VBL placed or removed feature a little more, I'm not following
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Cweord
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Post by Cweord »

Image

That is the picture where it would have been nice if drawing had deleted VBL, that would have meant that the dungeon was surrounded by a VBL layer as I drew it.

Building it this way didn't give me time to put in topology, and limited how far ahead I could get of my self with out the players seeing extra corridors or rooms that crept in to their visual range.

Image

This is the map where I was just putting in large tree trunks, I had light cut down to represent the lack of visual distance in the forest (about 10m) but didn't have time to put topology round the trees, if drawing the trees had automatically added the topology it would have made life easier.

This is only really necessary in free form games - where you don't know what is going to happen next, or if you don't have time to map and are copying from a scenario on the run.
Cweord

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trevor
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Post by trevor »

OOooooh, that's what you mean by drawing adding/removing vbl. man, that would be pretty cool.

The dungeon example would work really well, the tree one not so much, because with the dungeon, you don't have to show the walls so the vbl matches exactly the drawn shape, but with the trees, you would want part of the tree to show so that they can see what it is. That can be tricky
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torstan
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Post by torstan »

Actually Cweord mentioned he was just drawing the trunks so it should be okay if all of the area drawn blocks LOS.

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Full Bleed
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Post by Full Bleed »

A "remove topology while drawing feature" would be nice.

Having the ability to "invert", "expand", and "contract" topology would also create shortcuts to applying topology.

For example:

1) Have topology remove while drawing. Drop down trees.
2) Invert topology layer. Now the blanks where the trees were are topology.
3) Contract topology 10 pixels.

Topology done.

I know we don't want topology to have that many "sides" to it though. So some kind of intelligent shaping would be needed to simplify the topology shapes inside the trees.

Right now MT doesn't see topology pieces as individual pieces though, correct?

Cweord
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Post by Cweord »

I was thinking one option on the create map screen Say, fill with VBL (check box)

then two options in the drawing tools, Add VBL and Remove VBL

Add VBL selected would cover the tree trunks and remove VBL would cover the dungeon.
Cweord

This message has been spell checked by Freudcheck - any mistakes are purley a figment of your imagination.
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trevor
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Post by trevor »

Full Bleed wrote: Right now MT doesn't see topology pieces as individual pieces though, correct?
Correct
Dreaming of a 1.3 release

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